Viral Story About "Sugar" the Horse Might Be Debunked, But the Memes Keep On Coming

Pretending to be asleep can get people out of a lot of trouble. I used to feign slumber in the car to get out of climbing the stairs of our home and going to bed. I'm not sure which came first, my dad being unwilling to carry more or catching on to the ruse, but those days didn't last terribly long. This weekend, the internet learned that it's not only humans who turn to acting (lying) when faced with an undesirable situation. Apparently, horses will do this, too. At least that's what one clout-hungry Twitter user led people to believe with a viral tweet this weekend.

Our introduction to the horse in question came courtesy of @jimrosecircus, who painted a very relatable picture of “Sugar ”in a now-viral tweet.
The tweet garnered loads of gleeful responses, with clever memers using the photo as a punchline, and people sharing pics and videos of their own rebellious, lazy, or obstinate animals. Even brands like Duolingo decided to try their hand at some relatable humor.
To our disappointment, however, it turns out that this story about “Sugar,” while cute, probably isn't legit at all. Even more disappointing is the fact that the news came from Adam Ellis, who's been in hot water of his own, from fabrication to straight up plagiarism.
Upon further investigation, and much to our chagrin, Ellis is right. It seems the @jimrosecircus account is filled with attention-getting misinformation. Here's a prime example that has been debunked by Snopes:
According to the myth-busting website, the photo that @jimrosecircus attributes to the year 1878 isn't even a photo at all. It's a digital rendering of what the Statue of Liberty might look like if she were a person.
Despite the rollercoaster of emotions and feelings of betrayal, we can still get behind the concept of such a horse existing. And we're still enjoying the responses: especially the ones about animals who have big “Sugar” energy.
At the end of the day, even if we hate internet attention-seekers that take us for fools, sometimes their BS results in something good. You know, like all this wholesome animal content.